– Did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency run cover for biotech behemoth Monsanto for years to hide the cancer-causing properties of one of the agri-giant’s most profitable chemicals? Absolutely, asserts Dr. Anthony Samsel, a research scientist and consultant who says he has EPA documents in his possession which allegedly show that Monsanto was aware of research tying glyphosate, the primary chemical in the company’s popular Roundup herbicide, to cancer since the 1970s.

In a recent interview, as reported by Health Impact News, Samsel – who has been studying the toxicity of glyphosate, the world’s most prolific herbicide, which is used in the cultivation of GMO crops – notes that, in the past, much of his research linking glyphosate to illness have been dismissed.

In conjunction with fellow researcher Dr. Stephanie Seneff, he has helped author the studies “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases III: Manganese, neurological diseases, and associated pathologies,” “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance” and “Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases.”

But many who dismissed the research are now paying more attention.

“Trade secrets”

In March, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer published a study[PDF] noting that glyphosate – along with insecticides malathion and diazinon – “probably” cause cancer.

Further, Samsel says he now has documents he received from the EPA that are “trade secret” documents belonging to Monsanto which, allegedly, are safety studies regarding glyphosate from the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as others beyond those dates.

As further reported by Health Impact News:

The documents reference animal studies, according to Samsel, with short-term and long-term studies conducted on mice, rats, rabbits, and dogs. Monsanto allegedly asked the EPA to seal these documents as “trade secrets” so no one else could review the data from these studies.

The scientist goes on to discuss one study in particular involving rabbits that examined the effects of the herbicidal chemical on the skin. Researchers at the time monitored the rabbits’ blood chemistry; one finding involved an increase in lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme in the blood related to tissue damage.

Samsel says another study indicated that glyphosate went directly into the animals’ bone marrow. The scientist says that is dangerous because new cells are born in the marrow and can pass substances on to the thymus glad, where T-cells and white blood cells eventually form. He believes that is significant, especially in light of the recent IARC report describing glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” in causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate cancer.

Later in the interview, Samsel discussed long-term studies that were conducted in rats lasting 26 months – studies he also believes are extremely significant. He believes so because the researchers in that study used a control group along with much lower doses of glyphosate. He said most believe that a higher exposure to glyphosate leads to a greater effect; however, he further states that the chemical has an “inverse dose response relationship,” and that this is demonstrated clearly in the Monsanto trade secret studies.

“Significant tumor growth“

Samsel said that studies conducted by Biodynamics in New Jersey from 1978 to 1980 show clearly that tumor growth occurred in many organs, even with lose doses of glyphosate – studies that were submitted to the EPA in 1981.

Though the studies showed significant tumor formation in kidneys especially, they were written off by the agency as “not significant,” most likely by altering control group data.

The interview has been broken into two parts. The first part is here; the second part is here.

Monsanto’s Roundup is currently available for purchase in Home Depot and Lowe’s stores across the country, putting children at risk in the communities where this chemical concoction is sprayed. Sign the petitions at the links below to tell these companies to stop selling Roundup, because people’s health should be valued higher than mere profits: